Betrayal
by Kariza Elquen
Summary: When Eridan announces that his plan to take down the landdwellers is imminent, Feferi knows that he has to be stopped. Rated K for implied character death. One-shot.


**Author's Note: Hey, guys! So, some of you may know that I attempted another multi-chapter shindig after my first story, The Colors Within. But it just wasn't getting off the ground. So I decided to try a few one-shots before embarking on another long project. So, here's my first one-shot, Betrayal! I've worked really hard on this, and I hope you guys like it! Please comment what you think, as well as any ideas or requests you have for my next one-shot. Enjoy! 3**

Night would be falling soon. Feferi shied away from the last rays of sunlight that sliced through the water, shone through the open window, and gleamed upon the polished handle of her golden double-trident. She peeked through the bars of an empty cuttlefish cage, watching from across the room as the sun dipped below the sea's horizon and the room, all at once, went dark.

The problem with conducting espionage missions on Alternia was that in order to protect their sensitive skin, most trolls led nocturnal lifestyles, sleeping during the day and going about their business at night. This meant that Feferi had two options. She could go out during the day, when her target was sleeping, but she could be easily seen and would severely harm her skin. The alternative was to wait for night to fall, when he would likely be awake, but Feferi would be cloaked by the darkness. She had opted for the latter.

Feferi swam across the room and gripped her trident, lifting it with one hand from its spot leaning on the wall. The metal was cool against her palm. Carefully, she equipped her _strife specibus_, seeing the phrase _2x3dentkind_ flash across the corner of her vision.

Before leaving, Feferi booted up her husktop and opened Trollian. A message window appeared with a loud _ding_, causing Feferi to hiss and clap her hand over the speaker, as if she was already sneaking about. Still on edge, Feferi examined the chat. It was the one she had been looking for, but it had reappeared due to a new message. It had been sent just after she had logged off the day before, right after the sun had risen and Feferi had crawled, exhausted and thoughts churning, into her recuperacoon. She scrolled to the top of the box and began re-reading.

_-caligulasAquarium [CA] began trolling cuttlefishCuller [CC] at 6:57-_

CA: fef

CA: fef ivve got excitin news

CC: Glub. W) (at is it?

CA: its done

CA: vvris finally finished it

CC: O) ( my cod, -Eridan! Please tell me t) (at you're not glubbing about w) (at I think you're glubbing about!

CA: ivve got the activvator right here wwith me

CA: its goin off tomorroww mornin

CC: -Eridan, no! You can't do t) (at!

CC: I minnow you're searious about t) (is, but, w) (at about our friends?

CA: vvris believves wwe havve an agreement to spare her

CA: but wwe dont

CC: But w) (at about –EV-ERYON-E –ELS-E!

CC: Like Kanaya, or Sollux?

CA: sometimes sacrifices havve to be made for the sake of wwar

CA: fef im doin this for us

CA: cant you sea that

CC: No, I can't! You're being reelly s) (ellfis) (!

CA: shellfish?

CC: S-ELFISH!

CA: oh

CC: If you want to do somet) (ing for me, don't press t) (at button!

CC: I'm asking you to do this as your moray-eel!

CA: an im TELLIN you this as your moirail

CA: im not gonna change my mind

CA: i kneww you wouldnt like it but wwe made a promise to tell each other evverythin

CA: anywway

CA: sleep wwell fef

CC: -ERIDAN!

_-caligulasAquarium [CA] ceased trolling cuttlefishCuller [CC] at 7:06-_

CC: GLUB!

_-cuttlefishCuller [CC] logged off at 7:06-_

_-caligulasAquarium [CA] began trolling cuttlefishCuller [CC] at 7:08-_

CA: im sorry

_-caligulasAquarium [CA] logged off at 7:08-_

He wasn't sorry. Feferi knew this. It shouldn't have meant anything, but it did. Perhaps he was showing remorse? But Feferi also knew that no matter what, he wasn't going to abandon his mission.

She left her husktop on, and floated slowly across the room, propelling herself carefully around obstacles with her arms and legs. She kept turning around, as if Trollian would chime with a new message from her moirail, admitting his mistake. But of course, nothing happened.

With a sigh of resignation, Feferi furrowed her brow and hoisted herself up onto the windowsill, pulling her trident out behind her. She dived into the dark waters, and began propelling herself at top speed through the sea. Perhaps if she reached his hive soon enough, he would still be asleep. Things would be easier that way.

Feferi felt her earfins being flattened back against her head with the pressure of the oncoming water, and stopped to adjust her goggles when the salt water crept in around the edges and stung her eyes. She occasionally spotted a deep-sea creature or someone's stray lusus, hunting for food in the light of the rising purple and green moons.

She arrived at his hive much too soon for her liking. The sea floor loomed below her, closer and closer with each stroke. Feferi felt her heels begin kicking above the water, and moments later the rocks began scraping at her knees. She stood shakily, and walked carefully up the beach onto the little island where Eridan had built his shipwreck of a hive. Her skirt dragged uselessly in the wet sand.

Feferi approached the teal ship, avoiding the large, craggy black rocks that protruded from the beach, jutting out at odd angles. Her trident felt heavier in the air than in the water. As she neared the ship, she could see purple light emanating through the glass panes that were fitted snugly into the window frames.

About one-third of the way down the ship, the exterior had fractured, leaving it split entirely open. Eridan usually flew his lusus into this gap, but all Feferi had was her trident and her own two feet. Cautiously approaching the crack, she hesitated, but eventually threw the trident over the short, splintered remnants of the wood. She cringed as it hit the floor inside the ship with a sharp, metallic _clang_.

She waited, frozen, listening for the signs of life inside of the hive. After a few moments, she clambered over the obstacle and dropped down into the main hallway of the ship. Landing with a muffled _thump_ on the tattered but lush carpet, she scooped up her trident with some difficulty. She felt landlocked. Beached. Her movements were lethargic, and she knew that if he were not asleep, she would have to lure him back into the water in order to stand a chance.

Ornate candelabras had been painstakingly attached to the woodwork every few yards on each side of the hallway, so as Feferi crept down the hallway toward Eridan's respiteblock, away from the fissure in the ship and the light of the moons, the flames flickering ominously atop their wax pedestals cast shadows upon the opposite walls. Dark, enlarged silhouettes of Feferi slinked along beside her, mimicking her every step.

When she reached the block she was looking for, Feferi clung to the wall, pressing her back up against it. Her bare feet felt cold despite the extensive carpeting, so she curled her toes into its fibers for warmth. Throat tightening, stomach clenching, and knuckles white against the unyielding gold of her trident, Feferi peeked around the corner into the block. A shiver ran up her spine as her eyes swept over Eridan's rifle, named Ahab's Crosshairs, leaning against his recuperacoon, easily within reach.

Fortunately, Eridan himself was still nestled snug within the luminescent green slime, and with this realization Feferi allowed a puff of air, laden with relief, to escape her lips. She entered the room quietly, masked by the darkness, and raised her trident to chest level. One unfortunate step of her left foot landed her directly atop a loose floorboard, which gave forth a thunderous _creak._

Her head snapped up. Eridan's earfins twitched, but he seemed still entrenched in slumber. Feferi swiveled her gaze back down to the pesky plank of wood, and focused her efforts on carefully easing off of it. However, if she so much as budged her foot, it would shift slightly under the decreased pressure.

The sea princess paused. She couldn't javelin the trident from her spot, due to the sloping walls of the recuperacoon. While she stood frozen in terror and indecision, her choice was made for her as the purple light from one of the moons filtered in directly through a window and across Eridan's eyelids, just above the slime. Feferi watched in horror as his eyes flickered open.

It took a moment for him to register his surroundings, but once he did, the result was instantaneous. He launched himself from his recuperacoon and snatched Arab's Crosshairs from its loyal place. As the rifle rose, Feferi turned and ran.

She dashed out of the block, hung a sharp left, and sprinted down the long, shadowy hallway the way she had come. _Had he recognized her in the dark?_ she wondered as she practically flew down the length of the ship, limbs suddenly propelled into fluid motion. _If he had, would he have aimed to shoot?_ Through her panic, Feferi heard his heavy footfalls not far behind her. When she reached the cleft in the ship, she planted one end of her trident firmly against the ground and used it to vault herself over the broken remnants of the ship's exterior. Landing nimbly on the gritty sand, she tore over the beach, dodging around black rocks as she went, and dove into the sea.

Feferi let herself put a few meters of water between her and the island before turning and jabbing her trident forward. There was nothing there. However, after a few breathless moments of confusion, a splash resounded through the water, and a bundle of blue, purple, and black crashed into the sea.

Eridan was just as uncomfortable in the water as Feferi was on land, and for the same reason as she. He habitually remained out of the water, and thus, it took him a few moments to regain his bearings after returning to the sea. However, once he did, he immediately darted forward into the dark waters, grimacing and squinting against the salt. Feferi dove deeper, careful to keep just out of sight. Eridan followed close behind, tracking her trail of bubbles and fear closer and closer to the sea floor.

Feferi kept swimming deeper until she could have reached down and brushed the velvety sand with her fingertips. Instead, she used her free hand to part the long, slimy tendrils of seaweed and disentangle them from the prongs of her trident.

Vibrations shivered through the mass of plants behind Feferi, and a new wave of anxiety washed over her. She couldn't be seen. Increasing her pace, Feferi torpedoed through the bothersome fauna and could tell she was putting some distance between herself and her pursuer. But just when she could see the end of the seaweed patch approaching, signaled by intermittent patches of clear water glimpsed ahead, her trident snagged on a particularly determined cluster of vegetation.

The combined forces of her speed and the abrupt halt jerked Feferi backwards, and the trident was wrenched from her grasp. She found herself belly-up in a pile of oily fronds, and quickly righted herself. She knew that Eridan was catching up fast, so she set about liberating her trident with a renewed vigor. She tore at the seaweed with her carefully filed yellow nails, and fumbled to loosen the knots that the pesky green stems had formed around the handle.

The rustling of the plants increased, and just as Feferi was about to abandon her weapon to the weeds, the final strand fell away. Without hesitation, she seized her trident from its trap and burst out of the seaweed patch, only to be abruptly faced with a new barrier, a dense wall of coral. Instinctively, Feferi swerved toward the surface, narrowly avoiding the obstacle.

Looking down, she discovered a vast, complex coral reef. A spark of an idea made itself known to her, so she dropped down among the endless catacombs and concealed herself in the darkness below an overhang. She waited for a few moments, breathless, and steeling herself against the inevitable. The anger within her had died down and had been replaced with dread, so she recalled their Trollian conversation, and reminded herself of the consequences should she fail in her mission. Her determination was rekindled.

After a few moments, Feferi heard the scrape of skin against coral and a loud exclamation. She waited while Eridan cocked his rifle and fired blindly into the water, evidently in an effort to lure his trespasser into the open. "I know you're here!" he called out, followed by the gurgling sound that is a telltale sign of being out of practice in speaking underwater. He coughed and recomposed himself. "Come out and face me like a real seadweller!"

Feferi slinked from the shadows and peered around the coral. Her moirail was facing the other direction, but slowly rotating around in a circle so as to sweep the entire area with his gaze. If she didn't act now, she would be spotted.

With a spurt of adrenaline and sudden resolve, Feferi burst from her hiding place, brandishing the trident as she went. At the very last second, Eridan spun out of the way and fired his rifle thrice in her direction, each time missing significantly. Before he could focus on her figure properly, she dove below another overhang that opened up into a small, murky cave. He rushed in after her, and if she hadn't known it was him, she wouldn't have been able to make out his features. Similarly, she assumed he could only glimpse her silhouette, unless she got too close.

But a silhouette was enough. Eridan aimed Ahab's Crosshairs once more, and this time, Feferi had to duck out of the way in order to avoid getting hit. She performed a flawless flipturn and pushed off of the prickly wall of the cave, headed right towards him. He held his rifle away from his body rigidly, blocking her attack, so she swung her lower body around and began kicking him vigorously with her bare legs. He cursed when her knee made direct contact with his shin, and pushed her away, swinging his rifle around toward her head. She ducked, but the pitiless metal hit her hard at the base of her left horn, and the impact sent her spiraling toward the cave floor.

Ears ringing, Feferi fought to retain consciousness. Her limbs felt weak, and her view of Eridan was more obscure and indistinct than ever. Her trident slipped from her fingertips, and fell uselessly to the ground, where the currents deposited Feferi herself moments later. She heard her moirail's cruel laugh as if from miles away. There was a loud click, and she knew that in moments, she would be dead unless fate intervened.

But so it did. Eridan paused, as if contemplating something, and said briskly, "You know what? I want to know who you are, and see the look on your face when I kill you, you scum. Let's go for a swim." Feferi didn't move. "Get up!" She still felt dizzy, and attempted to sit up on the sand. Her moirail huffed, grabbed her by the earfin, in response to which Feferi gave a loud screech, and began hauling her out of the cavern. Just before she was dragged out of reach, she strained to the right and clutched the handle of her trident firmly once more.

Once she had regained most of her bearings, Feferi swatted Eridan's hand away and accompanied him out of the cave, trident poised and at the ready. Her cocky moirail just kept kicking toward the surface, somehow confident in his ability to dispatch her without resistance.

When the pair emerged from the cave and the meager light of the moons returned, Eridan hovered a few feet above the coral reef before dramatically prepping his rifle. "Well, then," he sneered, turning to face her head-on, "let's see who you –"

He cut himself off, completely and abruptly, at the sight of her. Hair amiss, lips pulled back in a snarl, dirtied weapon, and torn skirt. Most importantly, she figured, the fact that his assailant was also his moirail and most trusted confidante had thrown him for a loop. His mouth opened, and then closed again. Finally he lowered his weapon and groaned. "Cod, Fef, I'm so sorry."

Feferi did a double take. This was the last thing she would have expected. "What? Why?" He looked up at her with guilt in his eyes. She had never been so confused.

"For attacking you, of course. You were just paying a visit on the big day, weren't you, but I didn't see you and I thought you were trying to kill me. And then I went off and attacked you and you were just trying to defend yourself." Eridan looked miserable. And Feferi didn't know what to say.

She considered pretending that he was right, and then catching him when he was off-guard, but for some reason she was taken back to their Trollian conversation. The phrase "we made a promise to tell each other everything" appeared before her eyes. She tried to blink them away, but they stayed put. The problem was, it was true. They had pledged some time ago to stop keeping secrets from each other. This, of all times, seemed like the wrong situation to break that promise.

Feferi gripped her trident tighter. "No. You're right."

Eridan stopped in his tracks, and then nodded. "Well, of course I'm right. Cod, I really am sorry, Fef. At least nothing too bad happened to you. Are you okay?"

She shook her head at her moirail and lifted her trident. "No. I mean. I was trying to kill you."

There was a moment of complete silence. Neither moirail moved, neither of them breathed or made a sound. Even the rushing of the currents and the steady undulations of the seaweed seemed to freeze. Finally, Eridan spoke, so quietly that Feferi had to strain to hear him, and her earfins swiveled forward in anticipation. "This is about the device, isn't it." She couldn't help noticing that it was phrased like a question but spoken like a statement, so she didn't even bother confirming it.

"I'm going to give you one more chance, Eridan," she dictated firmly. He chuckled darkly, eyes trained on her as he raised his rifle.

"Of course you are. What kind of princess would you be if you didn't?" He didn't repent. He didn't apologize. He didn't even try to explain himself. He just raised his eyebrows and said, "You'll make a good ruler." And though his weapon was ready and pointed at her chest, Feferi knew he wouldn't shoot.

For Eridan, it was either him or her. But for Feferi, it was either him or her people.

In the end, she had the easier choice to make.


End file.
